


Never Meant to Be

by Gears112



Series: Inky Depths AU [4]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: A Possible Theory for Linda's Importance, And why Henry left, Gen, Joey's an ass, Mention of a death, Poor Bendy had no clue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-16 03:39:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12334785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gears112/pseuds/Gears112
Summary: Joey and Henry started up their studio with a little show, starring a little girl and her adventures in a magical cartoon land. Too bad things don't turn out exactly as planned.(A theory/idea about the 'Linda' character mentioned in Henry's audio tape)





	Never Meant to Be

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that I'm taking major inspiration from Walt Disney's series called "Alice Comedies" in which a human girl 'interacted' with cartoons and had adventures.

_ "Hiya Mr. Henry~” The brunette bob haired girl sang happily as she ran past the man in question, as he carried the boxes into the studio. _

_ “Hey there Linda…” Henry chuckled. “Here to help me and Joey move into the studio.” The girl whirled around on her heels and faced him. _

_ “Yeap! And Mr. Drew says after that, I’m gonna get to see the script for the show~” Henry smiled as he got the box onto one of the tables. “And then I’m supposed to see Mr. Lawrence and practice my singing for the new short.” She nodded firmly as Henry opened the box and began to unpack. “Though Mr. Henry, how are the cartoon characters supposed to see me if I’m here?” Henry chuckled. _

_ “Well, me and Joey are going to draw the characters and then through the magic of the animating process, make it look like they’re in there with you.” Linda nodded slowly, though she didn’t get it. “I wouldn’t worry about the technical stuff.” She nodded before heading to the door. _

_ “Alrighty Mr. Henry! I’mma go see if Mr. Drew needs help now! See you soon!” _

_ “See you soon, Linda…”  _

.

* * *

 

.

Henry stood, axe gripped in his ink stained hand, trembling as he stood in front of the doorway, staring at the faded poster that had a human girl leaning against a sign with the name of the show being carried by a cartoon creature, Henry didn’t remember the name, nor did he truly care. He sighed; out of all the places to not be boarded, Joey couldn’t even be bothered to board this place up. He gripped the axe tightly and looked behind him, half expecting ‘Bendy’ to be there behind him, but there was nothing, so he turned forward and walked into the room.

.

* * *

 

.

_ Henry was dumbfounded as he stared at the child laying on the cot, coughing and being tended by one of the local doctors. Linda’s parents were worriedly close to the girl, promising her she was going to be ok. He didn’t understand; she was sick? Sure he hadn’t seen her in a few days-Thanks Joey-but she was certainly healthy last he saw her. _

_ “Linda?” He managed out softly and his heart broke as he saw the girl look at him and smiled. _

_ “M-M-Mr. Henry...you came…” Henry forced a smile. _

_ “Of course, Linda, I wanted to see you before Joey had me work on 70 different things at once.” Linda giggled, though it was interrupted with coughing. Henry’s face fell before remembering his sketchbook in his hand. “Oh, Linda, do you want to see a new character, I’ve been working on?” The girl lit up and Henry sat at the end of the bed and showed her the character he had been drawing. _

.

* * *

 

.

Bendy smirked as he found where the old man was hiding, a rather stupid place he mused to himself; there was only one entrance and he was blocking it. He spotted the old man sitting on a chair his head in his hands, trembling slightly. Bendy wasn’t impressed; if the old man thought that putting on the waterworks would make up for abandoning them then he had another thing coming! Bendy crept in, though the old man didn’t even flinch, apparently so consumed by his own self pity and not-

“Stop the dramatics and kill me already.” Bendy froze, not expecting such a drained sound coming from his creator. “I’m not in the mood for you or Joey’s bull crap right now...just make sure you make this room spotless after you kill me…” Henry made a bitter chuckle. “She never liked the idea of making Wally work too hard…she always tried chewing Joey out…” Henry wiped at his eyes.

.

* * *

 

.

_ “You’re WHAT!?” Several animators and interns stopped and stared at Joey’s office, where there was a shouting match going on. “Henry you cannot be leaving!” There was a pause, probably Henry speaking in a very calm voice, before the yelling started up again. “What about our DREAM!? Henry you cannot just abandon while we’re just starting! What happened was out of our control! Henry, you can’t-” _

_ “Joey, I had to watch a mother and father bury their child!” Everyone looked at the door as they heard Henry’s voice raise. “I cannot stay here-It hurts too much to sta-” There was a resounding smack sound and an eerie silence before they saw Henry walked out of the office and made his way to the exit, not even stopping to say goodbye. There was a long silence before Wally spoke for everyone. _

_ “What the heck happened?” _

.

* * *

 

.

“She?” Bendy garbled out in confusion, sitting in front of his creator. Henry sighed and gestured to one of the posters that had two characters Bendy didn’t recognize, including one with a human girl interacting with the cartoon characters. 

“Her name was Linda...she was the star of me and Joey’s first show….she was a sweet playful girl...everyone loved her when she came to work…” Henry wiped at his eyes. “She especially loved hanging out with me and Joey....she made it worth putting up with Joey’s grandiose plans...and his constant taking….” Bendy shifted in his seat awkwardly, Joey had never mentioned her before and his curiosity was peaked, but from the way Henry was acting, he didn’t really want to know more. “Heh, she was the first person I showed your design to…” Bendy froze, stunned by this new piece of information.

“R-Really?” Henry nodded softly. 

“She loved it...she really wanted him to be her friend in the show….S-sorry…” Henry turned away from Bendy and fished out a handkerchief before wiping away his tears. “I-I-She was like a daughter to me and when she died, I-I couldn’t bring myself to put up with Joey’s callousness and his dreaming…”

“S-So that was why you left?” Henry looked up at the demon and smiled softly.

“Part of the reason….Joey and I have, different perspectives on how the world works; he’s a dreamer, alway believing that anything was possible with enough belief, and me...I was a realist, more focused on making sure there was a feasible way things got done….”

“A downer…” Bendy muttered before sheepishly looking at Henry who just chuckled.

“That was always something Joey called me when he thought  I couldn’t hear…” Henry sighed and shook his head. “He always called me a number of things when he thought I’d never hear...Linda loved asking me about the meaning of the names she managed to overhear…” 

“Um...Henry?” The man looked at the ink demon. “Could you tell me more about this Linda lady?” Henry chuckled.

“I sure can Bendy…”


End file.
